Heading back to the District. Flights and shuttles won't leave me much time to mess around on the webs, so keep yourself occupied with this Artnet year-end market report. Wow:
. . . 2,800 new auction records were set in the fine-art auctions of October and November 2006. Of these new records, 72 were over $1 million. In May 2006, 45 of the new record prices were for $1 million or more.It might yet take an act of god to curb the art market; of course, the catastrophic crashes of the dollar and global climate are both nigh, so we may yet see the day. It will be known that twilight of Western civilization featured a strong arts bubble, at least. Some artists are even prepared for it.
Anyway, the Artnet writer alleges that a weak dollar draws buyers from Europe even as the imbalanced domestic economy continues to create extravagant wealth (and new collectors). I'm curious about the dollar's role in the focus on American artists today. Project for the new year: Systematize art history (a la Moretti) by plotting plastic-arts trends against regional affluences and global currency dynamics. If other projects don't take precedence.
Posted by Kriston at December 26, 2006 11:55 PM